Gideon brings the  story of an Illinois juror (where’s our Chicago maven,  Windy, on this one?) who belatedly let’s the cat out of the bag, only to find that the judge planned to bag him.  The juror, Robert Taylor, was called for duty and admitted during voir dire that he didn’t think he was qualified because he had collapsed and convicted an innocent man, Charles Campbell, back in 1992. 

Taylor testified he and two other jurors believed Campbell was innocent of the armed robbery but after deliberating for over nine hours, the three hold-outs felt pressure to change their votes to guilty.

I bet no one expect that to come out.  But it did.  So Campbell’s lawyer subpoenaed Taylor to testify in a post-conviction proceeding before Ninth Circuit Judge James Stewart. 

Judge Stewart naturally admonished Mr. Taylor for having failed in his duty as a juror by condemning a man he believed innocent to prison, but praised him for demonstrating the bravery to step forward, even at this late date, and admit that this man was wrongfully convicted.  Uh, sorry.  That didn’t happen.   But this did:

Stewart then told the juror there was a possibility of criminal charges being filed against him for jury misconduct depending on his potential testimony. Stewart warned any of his testimony Tuesday may be held against him and advised him of his right to remain silent. “To me, it was not that big of deal,” Taylor said. “I was taught that right always wins. But if it is going to incriminate me, I’m not going to say anything more. Sorry.” Taylor was then dismissed.

Gideon is outraged.  And he wants to know if he’s alone.  No, Gid, you’re not.  I am outraged as well.  Put aside the minor detail of what this Judge thinks this juror’s “crime” might be, but the notion that the judge threatened the juror with criminal prosecution to prevent him from testifying as to Campbell’s constitutional rights being violated is bizarre. 

Adding insult to injury, what are the chances any potential juror reading this story would ever be so stupid as to come forward and admit that they caved in to the majority to be done with deliberations and go home?  

Just in case you’re inclined to feel sympathetic to juror Taylor, the one who was too gutless to hold out for an acquittal, the deciding factor in favor of being an unmitigated pussy was that “Taylor argued if Campbell was not guilty of that crime, he was probably guilty of other crimes.”  Judge Stewart reserved decision.